Seniors 75 and older can now get a COVID-19 vaccine, but scheduling a vaccine appointment is proving to be a frustrating experience for them, and for those trying to help them do it.
“After I secured mine, then I said, 'like 15, 20 minutes, that wasn’t too bad. I’m willing to do that again,'" said Carmel Valley resident Betsy Kostas.
But when Kostas got back online to get an appointment for her husband, it wasn’t so easy. This time it took a lot more than 15 or 20 minutes.
“That was Monday evening at about 9 (or) 10 o’clock. I didn’t do much Tuesday, as well as Wednesday. Wednesday evening, last night at 6 o’clock, I finally secured him an appointment," Kostas said.
Kostas’s particular complaint is about the CalVax website, which is where people are directed to make an appointment.
She pointed out you have to answer a bunch of medically related questions before getting to the point where you select an appointment time. Problem is, you go through all that, only to find there are no appointments left.
That’s what the online county vaccination sites showed on Thursday.
The only appointments available to seniors 75+ through the county would be at the "vaccination super station" near Petco Park and the new South Bay super station in Chula Vista, opened on Thursday.
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“We definitely have plans to improve it,” said county supervisor Nathan Fletcher at Thursday's news conference.
Fletcher acknowledged the issues with trying to set up appointments.
“The state of California’s launching an integrated portal where people can more easily sign up and access available appointments, and we hope for that to come out in the coming days," he said.
Fletcher did have one bit of good news for seniors trying to book vaccine appointments: The 211 system will be available to help beginning Friday.
People taking calls will be able to either walk seniors through the process, do it for them while they’re on the line, or connect them directly to their healthcare provider. Fletcher asked that only seniors and others eligible to get the vaccine at this time, call the line.
